MP Materials (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky Sells 234,651 Shares

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) CEO James Litinsky sold 234,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $15,456,461.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,855,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,952,414.55. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MP Materials Price Performance

Shares of MP stock traded down $2.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,062,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,944,660. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.36 and a 200-day moving average of $59.52. The stock has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -153.75 and a beta of 1.90. MP Materials Corp. has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $100.25. The company has a current ratio of 7.18, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 28.00% and a negative return on equity of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 138.7% in the 1st quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 22,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 13,109 shares during the last quarter. BankChampaign National Association acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $477,000. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $1,034,000. South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 516.1% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 51,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 43,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 260.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 385,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,580,000 after purchasing an additional 278,126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.